


Shock and Awe

by TheNarator



Series: What Did You Think Was Going To Happen? [4]
Category: The Flash (TV 2014), Young Justice (Cartoon)
Genre: Angst, Cisco's powers can do anything I say they can, Comprehensive Theories of Superpowers, Fix Fic, Fix-It, Fluff, Found Family Feels, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Impossible Things, Kidnapping, Major Character Resurrection, Past Abuse, Trauma
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-08-28
Updated: 2019-08-28
Packaged: 2020-09-28 16:44:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,738
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20429174
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheNarator/pseuds/TheNarator
Summary: A collection of shorter stories set in the "Safe and Warm" universe, involving various characters that didn't get much screen time in the main fics, and plot points that didn't fit in with the rest of the story.





	Shock and Awe

**Author's Note:**

> me, sitting bolt upright from a nap some months ago: "FUCK I FORGOT CLONE ROY!"

When Will picked up the phone, at seven in the morning, in the middle of making breakfast for his wife and daughter, the last thing he expected was Dick’s voice telling him Wally was alive.

“I’m sorry,” Will said, after a moment of silence during which he slightly overcooked one side of a pancake, “say that again? It sounded like you just said-”

“Wally’s alive,” Dick repeated. “He’s getting released from the hospital today. He wanted to come see you, and that’s when I realized we hadn’t called you yet.”

Will burned the other side of the pancake until the smell of smoke knocked him out of his daze. The he took the burned pancake off the skillet, threw it in the trash and turned off the burner.

“When did this happen?” Will asked. “How long has he been . . . back?”

“A few days,” Dick said. He sounded distracted. “Look, I’m sorry I didn’t tell you sooner. It’s been a little busy around here, ok?”

“Too busy to tell me one of my oldest friends returned from the grave?” Will demanded.

There was a pause, presumably while Dick winced. “I’m sorry,” he said, “it’s just, the circumstances-”

“What circumstances?” Will pressed. “Dick, what happened?!”

Another pause, this time stretching on until it became obvious there was something Dick wasn’t saying. Vaguely Will was aware the the sound of Lian’s babbling and Jade’s cooing replies had died down. He wondered if they were staring at him, perhaps knocked out of their little world by the tone of his voice.

“Dick,” he said, as slowly and carefully as he could manage, “what did you do?”

“I found a kid,” Dick said, after a few more moments of hesitation. “Seventeen, more than old enough to make decisions for himself. He’d been fighting crime in Opal City ok, he’s no stranger to risk. He knew what he was getting himself into.”

“Dick,” Will warned, uncaring that his voice had dropped to something low and dangerous.

“He has powers he used to bring Wally back,” Dick said hurriedly, “but there were complications and he passed out.”

Will stared at the back of the stove for a few seconds, mouth hanging open. Then he said the only thought that would come into his head.

“Is the kid ok?”

“He’s fine!” Dick hastened to assure him. “I saw him like two days ago, he left as soon as he could.”

“You mean he’s not in the hospital?” Will asked incredulously. “Where is he?”

“He doesn’t like hospitals,” Dick explained. “And somewhere in Opal City.”

“Somewhere in Opal City,” Will repeated. “You don’t have his address?”

“He doesn’t really have one,” Dick said, sounding like he knew full well what Will’s reaction would be.

“So, let me get this straight,” Will said, pinching the bridge of his nose with his free hand. “You brought Wally back from the dead by almost killing a homeless teenager, who you then allowed to leave the hospital to go back to being homeless.”

“Well it sounds bad when you say it like that,” Dick sighed as though deeply exasperated.

“Did you even offer him a place to stay?” Will asked.

“Of course I did!” Dick snapped. “What am I, a supervillain? I offered him a place on the team, he wasn’t interested.”

“A place on the team is not the same as a place to stay,” Will said. “You can’t just leave him out there.”

“I’m not,” Dick said, and Will couldn’t help but feel it was an ominous answer. “Look, Wally’s going to be released soon, and then he’s going to his parents house and then coming to you. Just, let me worry about the kid, ok?”

“Fine,” said Will, even though it was nowhere near fine. “But this discussion is not over, do you understand?”

“Too well,” Dick said, and the line went dead.

Will hung up with a little more force than was strictly necessary, then picked up the plate of finished pancakes and turned to set it on the breakfast table. Jade and Lian were both looking at him as he set the plate in the middle of the table. Lian looked worried, and made grabby hands at him as he took his seat.

“What was that about?” Jade asked, as though she hadn’t overheard everything, as Will ruffled Lian’s hair.

Will sighed, then offered his finger to Lian’s tiny grasping hand. Her little fingers barely went around his big one, and the sight of it soothed him somewhat.

“Wally’s back,” he said simply, “and Dick seems to have almost killed some kid to do it.”

“Yes, heroes tend to not stay dead when they should,” Jade said, and took a sip of her coffee.

Will shot her a look. “This is serious, Jade, someone almost died.”

“That’s nothing special,” Jade said, as though this were the most reasonable thing in the world. “You and your little friends almost died every other week when you were a teenager.”

“It shouldn’t have happened,” Will told her, “not like this. Dick was so upset about Wally’s death that-”

“You should go see him,” Jade said, cutting off Will’s tirade before it could build up too much steam. “I’m sure he’d like to see all of his friends after getting resurrected. I’m told it can be quite the ordeal.”

“He’s coming to see us,” Will said, trying not to think about Jade’s experience of resurrections, “but that’s not the point! The point is-”

“What?” Jade asked, interrupting again. She took another sip of her coffee and stared at him, a slight twinkle in her eye.

“The point,” said Will, after a moment’s consideration, “is that I should make more pancakes.”

***

Despite his current anger at Dick, Will really was glad to see Wally.

When he arrived Wally was carrying Artemis, who seemed a little reluctant to let go of his hand just yet. She relinquished her hold in order to hug Jade and Lian, but then sat practically in Wally’s lap as the four of them talked. Wally didn’t seem to mind, allowing her to sling her legs over one of his own even as he talked animatedly to Will, every bit his usual chipper self. If Jade noticed Artemis’s clinginess, which she probably did if Will knew her, she did not comment, and simply offered the two of them another helping of pancakes.

“Thanks,” said Wally, gratefully accepting a fourth helping. “For some reason so hungry ever since I got back. Even hungrier than usual, if you can believe that.”

“Maybe its because you’ve gotten faster,” Artemis speculated. She had taken three bites of her pancakes and then pressed them on Wally.

“You’re faster?” Will blinked. “How would you know?”

“Got to my parents’ place in record time,” Wally said between bites. “Barry came with, said he could barely keep up with me.”

“An interesting development-” Will began cautiously.

“But not an uncommon one,” Jade finished for him, in a reassuring tone. “Those who return from death often come back with one or two, shall we say, new features.”

“I don’t think I was dead though,” Wally said, putting down his fork a moment. “It’s more like I was . . . trapped? I can’t properly explain it, but I don’t think the place I went to was the afterlife.”

“The kid called it the Speed Force,” Artemis recalled.

“Dick called it that too,” Wally concurred. “I’ve never heard of it, but then again, we still don’t know much about how speedster powers work.”

“After three generatins worth you’d think you people would have done some experimentation,” Jade said dryly.

“We’re more into practical applications on this side of the chessboard,” Will raised a censorious eyebrow at her.

“Maybe the kid can tell you more,” Jade speculated, giving up her prodding easily. “He seems to know enough about it to go meddling.”

“I’d like to,” Wally said, then cut himself another bite of pancake. He chewed thoughtfully, staring off into the middle distance, then swallowed. “There’s a lot I’d like to ask him, actually.”

“You’ll get the chance eventually,” Artemis said, then licked her thumb and wiped syrup off the corner of Wally’s mouth.

Wally grinned, and taking her by the wrist he kissed her knuckles.

“Honestly,” Artemis said, pulling her hand away and reaching for a napkin to wipe syrup off her fingers, but there was an obvious fondness in her tone. “I can’t take you anywhere.”

***

Will was actually a little too caught up in the fact that Wally was back to remember to be annoyed at Dick. Besides that there was his job, and Lian and and Jade, and life in general to be dealt with, so for a while he almost forgot about the kid. He knew that the League wouldn’t let Dick do anything but right by the person who had returned Wally to them. It was perfectly safe to not worry about the kid any more.

So when Dick called him, for the second time in three weeks, with another announcement that made Will’s hand clench tight around the phone, he couldn’t help but be a little annoyed at himself.

“So the kid who saved Wally has joined the team,” Dick said, without so much as a greeting.

Will, who was at work, glanced around furtively to see if there was anyone nearby. There wasn’t, and he could see no one approaching through the window, so he turned his attention to the call.

“What.” he said, voice going low and dangerous for the second call in a row.

“I thought you’d be happy,” Dick was plainly frowning on the other end. “He’s off the street, he’s going to accept our resources and stay at the Hall. We’re taking care of him.”

“I told you before, off the street and on the team are two different things,” Will reminded him. “Haven’t you been selfish enough with his power?”

“I . . . he’s going to be doing this anyway,” Dick said, sounding nonplussed. “I couldn’t stop him if I tried. This way he has backup, he has medical care, he has-”

“Another reason to risk his life for you,” Will cut him off. “Christ Dick, did you even check to see if he has family?”

“He doesn’t want to go home” Dick said, as though this was the most reasonable thing in the world. “Look, just come here and meet him? I promise he’s here of his own free will. We might have been a little insistent that he stay until he was healed, but-”

“Healed?” Will interrupted again. “Dick, what happened?”

Dick sighed, deeply, then launched into an explanation about the kid being hurt fighting crime, then overusing his powers to save Conner, Bart and Gar, then passing out again and having to be brought somewhere safer, where the team could ‘work on him.’ Will didn’t like his phrasing, at all, so he promised he’d be there after work and hung up, with the decided impression that Dick hadn’t gotten what he wanted out of the conversation.

_ Good, _ Will thought savagely.  _ I didn’t get what I wanted either. _

***

When Will arrived at the Hall of Justice, dressed as Red Arrow and with a severe expression to match, he was ready for several things. A fight, possibly a physical one, with Dick. A reckless kid who needed to be talked out of superhero work far more than he needed to be talked into it. The team potentially offering resistance to his determination to at least try to undo all their hard work.

As it happened he found no Dick and no resistance. He did, however, find a reckless kid.

Bart directed him to the sickroom, where the kid was still recovering from his injuries. As he reached it he saw the new girl, Cindy, coming out, a tray with dirty dishes on it balanced on one hand. She looked surprised to see him, but squared her shoulders and transferred the weight of the tray so she could grip it in both hands.

“Cisco wants to be left alone for now,” she said sternly. “He’s already agreed to join the team, you don’t need to convince him.”

“I’m here to do the opposite of that,” Will informed her, wondering exactly how much ‘convincing’ it had taken to get Cisco to agree. “Can he take one more visitor?”

“You, don’t want him here?” she blinked, confusion written on every line of her face.

“I want him to make his own choices,” Will said carefully. “He should at least hear all the pros and cons before making a decision.”

Cindy hesitated a moment, then nodded decisively. “Just don’t take long, he needs to rest.”

Will nodded his agreement, and Cindy took off down the hall at a sedate pace.

When the door opened and Will got his first look at the kid it was all he could do not to gasp. As it was he was sure he was frowning pretty severely, if Cisco’s startled expression was anything to go by. He was thin and wiry, the type of malnourished that Will was familiar with, when he’d been at his lowest point. His hair was long and unkempt, his face was ashen as though with pain or fatigue, and he was lifting up his shirt to poke at a long, wicked gash with thirteen stitches in it along his side. He hurriedly put down his shirt when Will entered, looking somewhat guilty.

“I didn’t touch it,” he lied, wiping a bloody fingertip on his black shirt.

Will schooled his features into something less off-putting and stepped into the room. “If you don’t leave it alone it won’t heal. Trust me, I know.”

“Yeah,” Cisco said, uncomfortably. “I just-”

“I’m not here to give you a lecture,” Will cut him off. “I just came to make sure you were alright.”

“Fine,” Cisco said, giving a tired smile. “You don’t  _ all _ have to worry about me you know, I’m not a baby, I’ve had worse than this.”

“I didn’t mean just your wound,” Will said.

Cisco looked puzzled. “Then why are you here?”

“Look,” Will said, unsure how to begin, “they didn’t tell me what they were doing. Either on the night you resurrected Wally-”

“He wasn’t dead,” Cisco said, as though on autopilot, “just trapped.”

“-or with bullying you onto the team,” Will continued as if Cisco hadn’t spoken. “I just came to make sure you really want to be here.”

“I’m not sure,” Cisco admitted, his uncertainty obviously no secret. “I mean, there’s a lot to consider. Its not as safe as being where no one can find me, and I could definitely attract unwanted attention onto the team, and-”

“No,” Will cut him off again, “I mean do you  _ want _ to be here?”

Cisco stared at him for a long moment. “I don’t understand what you mean,” he said at last. “Don’t you . . . am I not supposed to be here?”

“You’re not supposed to be anywhere you don’t want to be,” Will told him. “This place, this  _ life _ , is dangerous. The people we deal with are dangerous. You don’t have to face them if you don’t want to.”

Cisco gave him a smile that was almost condescending. “Yeah, I kind of do,” he said. “And you guys have convinced me this is the best place to do it from.”

“No,” Will said, “you don’t have to do anything you don’t want. We can help set you up somewhere without you getting any more involved than you already are.”

But Cisco was already shaking his head. “My powers are too useful,” he said. “I can’t just stay out of it, not when there are lives at stake.”

“Powers or lack thereof do not define a hero,” Will tried to explain. “No one could say you haven’t already done enough. No one could blame you for bowing out now.”

_ At least not where I can hear, _ Will thought privately.

“Someone needs to make use of my powers,” Cisco was frowning as though in confusion. “I’d rather it be the team than anyone else who might want to.”

“ _ No one _ is going to use you,” Will said firmly. “Not the team, not the League, and not Nightwing.”

“But,” Cisco protested, “I’m useful.”

“That doesn’t mean you have to do anything you don’t want,” Will tried to explain, knowing he wasn’t doing a very good job.

“No, really,” Cisco insisted, “I’m really useful! Do you have any enemies that are giving you trouble? Someone who knows your weaknesses and how to exploit them? I’m real good at that kind of thing, my powers are pretty versatile.”

“No,” said Will, frowning, “and you don’t have to-”

“What about traveling between dimensions?” Cisco asked next. “I can do that too. Other worlds have resources, what’s scarce here might be plentiful there. Do you have anything that you need?”

“No,” Will replied, “and I’m starting to think-”

“Or I could build you something,” Cisco went on, seeming desperate to find a way to please Will. “I can do all kinds of things, especially compressed microtech. I bet I could make you some pretty cool trick arrows, if you’ve got any ideas for-”

“Kid!” Will shouted, stemming the tide of suggestions. “You don’t have to do anything for me. I believe that you’re useful. I just don’t want to use you.”

Cisco looked at him like he’d grown an extra head. “You don’t?”

“No,” said Will, “and I find your need to be useful to everyone to be greatly troubling.”

“Sorry,” Cisco looked abashed.

“You don’t have to be sorry,” Will said, trying not to shout again. “You just have to be careful. Don’t put yourself out there like this to just anyone you meet.”

“I don’t,” Cisco said, a little defensively. “But if I’m going to stay here then I’m not going to be a charity project. I want to do something useful.”

Will sighed. There was clearly something off about this kid’s head, something about his priorities that made Will want to squirm with discomfort. He had been through some kind of ordeal, something that had made him believe usefulness was tantamount to worth as a person, and no one had thus far challenged that, or challenged it sufficiently. That Dick had taken advantage of this kids eagerness to please seemed obvious. That the team would continue to take advantage of it seemed clear.

“Ok,” Will said, telling himself he was losing a battle, not the war. “I just came to say that if you want to run screaming, I’ll cover you. If you want to stay, then stay.”

Cisco nodded.

***

“What  _ happened _ to this kid?” Will demanded, when at last he had located Dick in the watchtower.

“How much time you got?” Dick said dryly, turning away from the report he’d been typing up to face Will.

With great difficulty, Will resisted the urge to punch him in the face. “Are you serious?! You’ve been cagey about this from minute one, now tell me what it is I don’t know!”

Dick sighed, closing his eyes and hesitating a moment. Then he straightened his back and looked at Will.

“He was taken by the Reverse Flash when he was nine years old,” Dick explained, his tone flat, his eyes narrowed. “He escaped when he was fifteen, and during that time . . . well I have my theories, but what he went through wasn’t pleasant. He got his powers during that time, learned what they could do, and after he escaped he seems to have been immediately snapped up by ARGUS. That’s where he met Cindy, and when ARGUS betrayed him somehow the two of them left together. That was six months before I found him.”

“And what happened after you found him?” Will pressed.

“He helped us get Wally back,” Dick prefaced his admission with that, as though it mattered, “but we had to run an electric current through his brain and it took three tries to do it. The strain of it . . . caused a mini-stroke.”

_ That _ was was when Will punched Dick in the face.

Dick didn’t even try to block, just rolled with the hit and ended up facing away from Will. He did block the second hit, grabbing Will’s wrist to stay him while Dick got his breath back. Then Dick looked back at Will, his lip split slightly but otherwise no worse for wear.

“I didn’t know all of that going in,” Dick tried to defend himself.

“You knew enough!” Will exploded, yanking his hand out of Dick’s grip. “Enough to know what he could do, and that he’d help you! Did you ever stop to think why any of that might be?”

“He’s a hero-” Dick began.

“He’s a kid, Dick,” Will interjected, cutting off what was doubtlessly a prepared speech about heroism and sacrifice and the freedom to make those choices for oneself. “He’s just a kid who’s desperate for approval. He practically came back with a 404 error when I told him he couldn’t do me any favors.”

“He wasn’t like that before,” Dick insisted, a little louder this time, more defensive. “Since he agreed to join the team-”

“You think this is because the circumstances have changed?” Will shouted. “A desperation to please like this doesn’t come and go Dick.”

Dick sighed, then looked away. “He wasn’t like this before.”

“The hell he wasn’t!” Will shoved Dick in the chest, drawing his attention back to the matter at hand. “You just didn't want to admit it to yourself! Leaving the League out of the loop? Not including me? You knew what you were doing was wrong and you did it anyway!”

“I didn’t tell you because-” Dick began, then faltered.

“Because you knew I’d never allow it!” Will finished for him.

“He didn’t need your permission!” Dick shouted, arms flung wide exasperation.

“Then why didn’t you tell me?!” Will demanded.

Dick’s arms dropped to his sides. He was breathing hard, not from the shouting but from keeping himself in check. Will was having a hard time keeping himself under control too, so he met Dick’s glare with an answering one of his own and gave them both a moment to form words.

“I had to get Wally back,” Dick said at last, like it was an inexorable truth, like it was paramount, like nothing could have stood in its way, least of all the wellbeing of a single person.

“Are you listening to yourself?!” Will demanded.

“I couldn’t just leave him there!” Dick retorted, loud and angry again.

“So your solution is to almost kill someone,” Will crossed his arms over his chest, more to stop himself from taking another swing at Dick than anything. “A kid, someone who deserves your protection.”

“I’m not proud of it,” Dick said, with forced patience, “but I’m making amends the best way I know how.”

“By bullying him onto the team?” Will asked skeptically.

“By making sure he has someone to watch his back,” Dick corrected. “Like you said, a need to please like this doesn’t just go away. He’s not going to stop trying to be a hero because we tell him its not necessary. He needs our help more than he needs our protection.”

Will took a deep breath through his nose and let it out again. He knew that, as much as Dick was also trying to justify this to himself, he had a point. Cisco would accept backup more readily than being benched. He wouldn’t understand being told to simply not do anything, would see it as a dismissal of his value or worse, a condemnation of his actions. He needed people to stand beside him more than to stand in front of him.

That didn’t mean no one should try.

“Where are you going?” Dick called after him when Will turned and made his way back towards the zeta tube.

“To talk to Cisco again!” Will called over his shoulder, and kept walking.

***

Less than half an hour after he’d left the sickroom Will was back, this time facing Cisco and Cindy as they sat together on the bed. They had been cuddled together when he walked in, lying facing one another, but they sat up and scooted apart once they noticed him, looking somewhat guilty.

“That injury’s really not going to heal if you don’t stop agitating it,” Will said, closing the door behind himself.

“I’m not agitating it,” Cisco said defensively.

“Canoodling can’t be good for it,” Will informed him, trying to keep his tone light and teasing.

Cisco and Cindy shared a glance, then scooted a little farther apart.

“Did you come up with something I can do for you?” Cisco asked him, once he and Cindy were positioned to their own liking.

Will rubbed the back of his neck with one hand. “No,” he admitted, “but I did talk to Nightwing. About . . . about what happened the night you saved Wally.”

Cisco tensed. “It was nothing,” he said, defensively, as though ready to be scolded for it. Will wondered if someone had scolded him, or if they’d merely scolded Dick in front of him. Perhaps someone should have.

“It wasn’t nothing,” Will said. “It was . . . I don’t know what it was.”

“Artemis called it heroic,” Cisco said, as though the word felt unnatural on his tongue.

“It was,” Will confirmed, “but more than that it was reckless, and stupid, and it shouldn’t have happened that way.”

“I couldn’t just do nothing,” Cisco shook his head.

“No, Nightwing couldn’t just do nothing,” Will corrected, “even though he should have. Even though he should have done this slow and careful, or not at all, he risked your life. I can’t let that happen again.”

“What do you intend to do to stop him?” Cisco asked dubiously. “I’m not giving up superhero work, don’t think I-”

“I’m not talking about ordinary work with the team,” Will said, “I’m talking about big uses of your powers, like this one. If Nightwing asks you do something like that again, I want you to tell me. Any time he asks you to push yourself too far like this, come to me first. I’ll work out with him how we can do this in a way that keeps you safe, or if it’s safe to do it at all.”

“I can’t ask for permission if the world’s in danger,” Cisco protested. “I just have to act.”

“You’re not asking me for permission,” Will told him, “you’re keeping me in the loop so I can help you figure it out. And if need be, punch Nightwing in the jaw again.”

“You punched Nightwing in the jaw?” Cindy asked, before Cisco could say anything.

“I may have been a little annoyed at how he handled the situation,” Will said grimly.

“You didn’t have to do that,” Cisco said, looking distressed.

“He deserved it,” Will informed him, “and what’s more he needed it. He needed the wake-up call, to remind him that he can’t act like this. If he ever needs another one, let me know.”

Cisco chewed his lip but said nothing. Cindy reached out a hand to took one of his, their fingers intertwining atop the covers.

Will sighed. “Look,” he said, “just promise me you’ll talk to me, alright? I’ll be around, and if there’s something Nightwing’s not telling me I need to hear it from you. Don’t let me get blindsided by the fact that my friend isn’t acting like a hero again.”

Phrased like that the sentiment penetrated Cisco’s defenses, and he nodded solemnly. “I will. And . . . and I’ll take you up on it. On what you said.”

“Which offer?” Will smiled slightly. “I made a few.”

“The one about . . . about helping us find a safer way to do things,” Cisco said. “I’ve never . . . I’m just used to doing things because they need to be done. Because bad things will happen if I don’t. If we could come up with a different way to . . . to make use of my powers, I’d like that.”

Will gave him an uneasy smile, and Cisco returned it brighter and more sure. It wasn’t quite the answer Will had been hoping for, but he supposed it was the best one he could expect. He wouldn’t let this happen again. Dick wouldn’t either, he was almost sure, but if it ever came to that Will would be there.

Someone was going to be looking out for this kid.

**Author's Note:**

> [ignores canon more vigorously than ever]


End file.
